Pictures can be found here: Photo Album

Purple: Tom Kogel | Jason Godwin | Karen Atwal | Chris King

Blue: Benjamin Johns

Green: Matthew Brown | Sam Cullen | Sam Schnellman | Mark Billany | Tim Riley

Yellow: Ryan Hubley | Matthew Bailey | Joshua Godwin | Rob Williams

White: Pacey Humphreys | Kyle Dorling Mason

Grading 21st March 2009

Black Belt: Curtis Manners

Brown Belt: Lucy Cook | Lee Singleton

Blue Belt: Karen Atwal | Chris King | Tom Kogel

Green Belt: Benjamin Johns | Conor O'Rourke | Gelorge O'Rourke | Mark Billany | Vicky Walter

Orange Belt: Sam Cullen | Matthew Brown | Sam Schnellman | Nick King | Richard Baughan | Rob Turner

Yellow Belt: Denis Chekhlov

Grading 11th October 2008

Another day, another grading! Once again I was very pleased to see that we had 16 students turn up to put themselves through the gruelling kickboxing grading on Saturday 11th October. I was very impressed by level of commitment and effort put in on the day by everyone and to a select few who went over and above to show me they deserved a jump in grades higher than what they had hoped for.
Gladly, everyone passed on the day to get their next belts and will be receiving their belts and certificates next week from the British Combat Association when they arrive. Well done to all that passed and a special thank you to Chris, Dave and Nealle for being there to assist on the day and help to decide on grades as the panel. Lee and Lucy have now got to purple belts so they are well on their way to the more senior status in the club with the higher grades. Well done you two! Keep up the good work!
Adair Macfarlane put in a top effort on the day and impressed me greatly with his sparring and boxing skills when sparring with Nealle. Nealle was trying his best to knock seven shades out of him but he kept coming back and got a few choice hits on Nealle which made me wince in sympathetic pain!!! Nealle will be the first to agree that too. Well done mate! Keep up the effort and it pays off.

Congratulations to all those who attended and passed, here below are the names and grades awarded:
Purple Belt: Lee Singleton | Lucy Cook

Blue Belt: Amy Kogel | Brittany Chandler | Adair Macfarlane

Green Belt: Luke Millar | Tom Kogel | Chris King | Karen Atwal

Orange Belt: Vicky Walter | Mark Billany | Connor O'Rourke | Tim Riley

Yellow Belt: Matthew Brown | Sam Cullen | Joe Bricknell | Robert Turner

We have a good 4 - 6 months to train for your next grading, so check your syllabus cards and see what you have to work on. See you in class!

Apologies no pictures due to a technical fault (dead battery on the camera!)

Self Defence Seminar - 27th September 2008

On September 27th the club ran a joint self defence seminar with Can Do Martial Arts Chief Instructor - Ben Richardson. The seminar focused on realistic self defence covered 4 "ranges". First was long range where we practiced disarmament. 20 rubber knives were used to ensure it was safe. The next range was the boxing / kickboxing range where some pre emptive strikes were applied. Grappling stage was next and this this also included some takedowns. The final stage was the ground work stage where we learned to control the fight from the ground. It was a lot to take in but those who attended had an informative and enjoyable day. The instructors of the club learned some new techniques which will be taught in class soon. The club is planning some more in the future so keep an eye out in the newsletter.

WUMA British Open: June 29th 2008

The 4 Real Freestyle Kickboxing academy was represented by 4 of its members at the recent British Open Championships held in Worcester in June.
It was the first tournament for two of our junior members Lucy and Lee and they both competed in semi-contact and light contact fights.
Lee was put straight in to the intermediate / advanced category and made a very good account of himself. Up against a more experienced fighter in the semi-contact round he fought well but minor lack of experience in this style of fighting proved to be decisive. He had a very good continuous bout taking a few nasty blows but landing plenty of shots of his own and just lost on a judges decision.
Lucy was our most successful competitor taking silver in her continuous fight after an excellent first round. Her opponent in the final was a very experienced fighter but Lucy got stuck in well but couldn't quite manage enough to win.
Carl Price has represented the club at these competitions before and fought well, up against a taller opponent in the semi-contact round, the long kicks made it tough for Carl who still managed to get a couple of points. As expected, Carl got stuck right in during his continuous fight and both fighters came away with really quite sore jaws.
Nealle returned to tournament action for the first time in over a year (??) he started well in his continuous fight and was on top of his opponent for the first minute before fitness became an issue as his opponent came back strongly and won the fight.

Grading 5th April 2008

Another Saturday rolls around for everyone and where most people would be planning to relax, take a punt on the Grand National accompanied by a few beers and generally take it easy. Except for 22 nervous students of 4Real Kickboxing Academy! Who are waiting to push themselves to the limit of endurance to earn themselves a new grade or obtain their first grade.

As per usual, I roll in at 1.05pm and am pleased to find Chris already there taking names and getting things in order as is to be expected of senior grades and members of the grading panel. 22 faces smiling at me, unsure of what was to come in the following three hours.

We kicked off with 30 mins of fitness from Chris and then I took over for the next 30 mins just to make sure everyone was testing themselves and pushing the limit of their endurance. I was extremely happy to see that everyone came through this session with no casualties or drop outs. This means I will make it even harder next time round!!

We moved on to the hour of techniques going through all the syllabus until the juniors completed after 2 hours and had a 15 minute spar to finish. Well done to all of you Juniors who put in a fantastic effort and achieved your new grade.

Finally, the seniors had to complete 45 mins of sparring to finish and show me the techniques in practice. Tom Gamble and Heidi Wells were going for their 1st Dan belts and gave a fantastic display of skill and aptitude on the day. I can no longer grade these two until I move up to 3rd Dan, so I am proud to have taken these two exceptional students to this part on their journey. Long may you continue to grow and people and Martial Artists.

Not to forget Dean Carter who was going for his Black belt after training for many years. Dean showed he was very capable and delivered the techniques with ease and was able to use these skills to great effect when sparring. Congratulations Dean for joining 4Real Hall of Fame.

Curtis Manners, also training for many years gave a sterling performance on the day and showed great confidence and ability, thus earning himself a well deserved Brown Belt. Well done Curtis! Also, moving up grades to Blue Belts was Lee Singleton and Lucy Cook who although being under 13 carried on till the end with the seniors sparring. You two are getting better every time I see you.

Apologies If I have not mentioned your name but there were loads of you who have done brilliantly and are listed below to mark your achievement, I hope to see you all in class very soon wearing your new belt with pride.

1st Dan: Heidi Wells, Tom Gamble

Black: Dean Carter

Brown: Curtis Manners

Blue: Lucy Cook, Lee Singleton

Green: Amy Kogel, Brittany Chandler, Christina Fiorentino

Orange: Daniel Underwood, Benjamin Johns, Chris King, Karen Atwal, Tom Kogel, Luke Millar, Lex Macfarlane, Adair Macfarlane

Yellow: Reef Coey, Aaron Coey, Brandon Coles, Connor O'Rourke, George O'Rourke

Congratulations everyone!

Grading November 17th 2007

Once again I found myself in the position of grading another batch of new students into the 4Real Kickboxing Academy list of belt achievers! On the day I was unsure of how many people would attend and was very happy to find 14 eager and nervous faces ready to go when I arrived at the hall. Chris was characteristically first on the scene and I was delighted to find Nealle already there to help out as a grading panel member. Well done to you both for showing the right attitude! Dave Quinn completed the three of us who will be deciding grades. Thanks for your help as always Dave. All the others turned up by 1pm and were given a short overview of what to expect. Each Junior would complete a two hour grading and the seniors will always have to do the full three! Oh YES! The Juniors grading this time round were Tom, Luke, Josh, Amy, Brittany, Carl, Lucy, Lee and putting in a sterling effort to train and not grade was Yvonne. All of the Juniors did really well but I would like to say an extra well done to Lucy, Carl and Lee for getting their Green belts. Great effort guys well done. For the seniors we had Amanda W for her first time round, who wanted to quit after 20 mins but was encouraged to keep with it and done the full three hours in the end! Amanda Jackson who worked really hard and gave a great effort to succeed in her Blue Belt grading, Cristina worked really hard too, Tim, who is a new student to the club worked really hard and had a good taste of what it means to be a Kickboxer. Well done Tim. Finally we had Chris going for his Black belt after being with me for 4 and half years ....about bloody time! It has to be said that Chris put in an excellent effort in the first hour of fitness, seemed to breeze through the technique session which lasted one hour and 15 mins. Finally he had to spar continuously for 45 mins to get his Black belt but had to go through me, Nealle and Dave to do it. I stepped up first after several months of ring rust and tried to give Chris a whopping, he gave as good as he got; lucky for him. Nealle stepped up next and clearly intended to demolish Chris in his already weakened state. Chris sustained many big hits but got to his feet every time to show me that he has the guts to take it on the chin and to deserve the title of Black belt which I am proud to say he does now deserve and Chris is the latest 4Real student to reach our Hall of fame. Respect. Yellow: Amanda W, Tom Kogel, Luke Miller, Josh Gannon, Yvonne, Tim Orange: Amy Kogel, Brittany, Cristina Green: Lee Singleton, Lucy Cook, Carl Price Blue: Amanda J Black: Chris Reeve Well done to everyone. See you at class in your new belts very soon.

National Championships September 2007

Dave Quinn competing for points	Carl competing for the first time	Tom G doing the club proud	Dave competing in semi contact
It has been while since anyone from the club had competed, so when the nationals came around, Dave Q, Tom and Carl decided to have a go. First time out for Tom G and Carl. Carl narrowly lost his fight but he worked hard and has learned some valuable lessons. Tom G won his first fight and eventually reached the final, narrowly loosing to a more experienced opponent. He did himself and the club proud by displaying some excellent technique. He also got a few official warnings for getting stuck in too hard! Well done Tom. Dave had to battle a leg injury leading up to the competition, this affected one of his fights. No excuses from Dave as he put in a first rate performance, unfortunately narrowly loosing both of his fights, one after a tie break. All competitors from the club made a few of the veterans sit up and take note. Thanks to Ady, Simon and Josh for support on the day.

Grading April 14th 2007

I turned up at the Centre on Saturday not sure how many were going to be there and was surprised to find at 15 people lined up and ready to go. In the junior categories we had the following: Harry, Lee, Gemma, Emma and Tom - all going for Yellow belt. Jake and Liam Potter going for Orange. All these guys worked really hard and delivered an excellent effort to get the grades they were after. WELL DONE YOU GUYS!! A special thank you to Mark Ball for supervising the Junior grading for me. In the seniors we had the following: Amanda, Josh, Dean, Simon R, Simon E, Tom G, Nealle and Heidi. These guys had to complete the 3 hour grading as is expected of all seniors going for higher grades. I am very pleased to say that everyone of these guys put in a fantastic effort and I am very proud of you all. Amanda got her Green belt, Josh and Dean both moving up to Brown belt (Dean ripping his nipple in the process!! ouch). The next guys all were going for their Black belts and had to give the very best they had to impress me and Dave Quinn who was helping me grade.(Thanks Dave, Nice one mate) These guys are the first Black belts under the name of 4real Freestyle KB Academy and I am so proud to have taken you all they way to your current level, long may you continue to progress and shine. Nealle Prentice - Blackbelt Simon Rae - Blackbelt Simon Elford - Blackbelt Heidi Wells - Blackbelt Tom Gamble - Blackbelt A massive well done to you all.

Grading August 5th 2006
The grading happened on Saturday from 1pm - 4pm as scheduled with 5 students attending. All who participated gave a tremendous effort and done themselves proud, it was not an easy task for anyone! The first hour was fitness based with each senior grade taking turns to run the session, then the next hour was based on going through the syllabus techniques which was facilitated excellently by Dave Quinn and Simon Rae. Thank you so much for help lads, very much appreciated. The final session was sparring which was only 40 minutes long as there were only 4 people grading with 3 of the grading panel sparring together. We finished with my famous “Town Centre” drills for everyone and gave everyone the opportunity to attack me for 1 minute as well. Nice ain’t I? The results are as follows: Chris Reeve - Brown Belt Simon Elford - Brown Belt Josh Elford - Purple Belt Amanda Jackson - Orange Belt Liam Potter - Yellow Belt Well done to all those who graded and thank you to all that helped out on the day. We should all get involved as much as possible to assist and support each other to make the club even more of a success.